Two interesting stories that I have referenced recently - the first story explains the concept of Bike Sheds vs the Atomic Power Plant, and sheds some light on why managers and people sometimes behave funny when they firmly believe they are a subject matter expert in a particular field.
http://blog.nordquist.org/?p=1405
The second article discusses Management Players and Pawns, Pros and Cons and provides some real insight into the structure of meetings - in particular, which one you should go to, and those you should extract yourself from.
http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2004/02/08/agenda_detection.html